Hong Kong and Canada captains reprimanded

Captains James Atkinston (Hong Kong) and Rustam Bhatti (Canada) have been found guilty of breaching the ICC Code of Conduct during their Under-19 World Cup Qualifier game on September 5. ICC match referee David Jukes, at a hearing after the conclusion of the game, found the players guilty of failing to control their respective teams.

Atkinston has been reprimanded for the second time this tournament; he was found guilty of breaching the Code of Conduct on two occasions during Hong Kong's game against Afghanistan on September 4. Hong Kong were beaten in both games.

Atkinson and Bhatti were found guilty of breaching the Clause 2 (Level 1) of the ICC Code of Conduct which deals with conduct that brings the game into disrepute. Atkinson, in the game against Afghanistan, was found to have breached Paragraph CC 1.3 of the code, which concerns showing dissent at an umpire's decision by action or verbal abuse. He was also deemed to have breached Paragraph 1.2 of the code, which deals with the abuse of cricket equipment.

"Both captains failed to control their teams and, as a consequence, their collective poor behaviour brought the game into disrepute," Jukes said. "While Mr Atkinson has apologised for his earlier breach from 4 September and shown a degree of remorse for his actions, there is no place for this sort of behaviour on any cricket field, let alone on the international stage.

"On a more positive point, however, I am sure that everyone will have learned from today's experience. Certainly, the captains will have received a timely reminder of their specific responsibilities."